Similar Products Used: none, hello I dont know how to ride
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Submitted by
mike Nation
a Weekend Warrior
from Crestview, FL , US
Date Reviewed: June 3, 2002
Strengths: Durability above average. Good in mud (not muck, but the silty mud type)
Weaknesses: Doesn't corner well at all. I almost went to the hospital after taking a moderate cornering turn in my driveway! They plow through the sand and dirt as opposed to floating over it. Their rolling reistance is by far the worst I've experienced.
Bottom Line:
This tire is well described in the previous reviews. It is a very specific tire. The only time I've actually enjoyed riding it is when I'm going through rainy conditions on the trail where I hit alot of mud and water. Try to inflate them as much as possible to ensure a smoother ride.
Since I did buy them so cheap ($15.00) I'll give it a 4 flaming veggies. As far as overall...well I'm going to have to give it a one flammer.
Bike Setup: Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo w/ XMO front shock
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Submitted by
Wenyao Ho
a Weekend Warrior
from Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Date Reviewed: March 16, 2002
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: plenty! high rolling resistance, does not grip well, does not inspire confidence..
Bottom Line:
These tyres are horrible! The rolling resistance is so bad that I could have pushed the bike faster than I could pedal uphill. Noisy as hell on the sidewalk as well. On the trail, it does not grip the trail well and tends to slip, but performs ok for muddy conditions. It is only fair for offroad-use, and poor for road use.
Similar Products Used: WTB velociraptor, Continental Traction, Continental Avenue (slicks)
Bike Setup: KHS Alite 1000
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Submitted by
Tom Lory
a Weekend Warrior
from Mountain View, CA
Date Reviewed: January 13, 2002
Strengths: Tacky soil and mud, heavy casing may be help prevent pinch flats
Weaknesses: Rolling resistance
Bottom Line:
Heavy, slow-rolling tires with limited traction in hard, dry, gravelly, rocky, sandy, loose, wet rocks, roots, asphalt, concrete; they suck almost everywhere.
I mounted them for one ride almost three years ago and removed them instantly thinking that I'd give them to a homeless person.
Not too many shopping karts with 26" wheels so I ended up waiting for conditions that would make me use them. It rained for 4 or 5 days of rain before my last ride, making me think that my Panaracer XC Pros would be far from ideal, passed over the Dart/Smoke combo and, feeling like I was gambling, mounted the Duster IIs. Hooked up all day climbing, cornering and braking on damp and muddy from sandy to clay and didn't pinch flat at 25 mph through a rocky creekbed.
Very good tires when the conditions are right, unacceptable for most of my use.
I bought 'em on sale for maybe $10 and possibly would again knowing that they work well in specific conditions, so 5 little vegatables for value.
Their performance is 0-5 depending on where you use them and where they excel they could probably be better with a different casing and maybe even compound so a 4 for where they're good averaged with a zero for almost everywhere else I guess gives a 2.5 but not worthy of 3 so 2 it is...
Weaknesses: These tires blow! They are very heavy, not supple at all. Very hard compound slips on rocks, roots, pavement. Rollind resistance is horrendous. Wide spaced knobs offer very little stability and grip in corners.
Bottom Line:
Pure crap. I bought mine at Performance when I worked there and the price was right. If you ride slowly in the mud and like wire bead tires that don't do well in corners (and work part time for $5 an hour) these are the tires for you!
Similar Products Used: Pretty much every tire in existence.0
Bike Setup: I used 'em on my old Stumpjumper M2
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Submitted by
mark m
a Cross Country Rider
from st. augustine, florida
Date Reviewed: September 14, 2000
Strengths: very durable
Weaknesses: poor rolling resistance, bumpy ride due to stiff but wide spaced knobs
Bottom Line:
slow moving tires that produce a very stiff bumpy ride. This review is for the front tire only. I would not buy another one, it is just not up to par with the compitition.
Submitted by
Rod Angler
a Cross Country Rider
from New Orleans
Date Reviewed: September 7, 2000
Strengths: Sheds mud. Reasonably durable.
Weaknesses: Sand, roots, mildly-off-camber hard pack.
Bottom Line:
Tires came stock on my 1998 K2 Proflex 4000.
I'm a new rider, but learned a particular 3 mile trail very well, and got to bombing the whole thing pretty hard and fast.
This tire occasionally would dump me on my ass, hard and at speed, unexpectedly, on what seemed like reasonably tacky hardpack. Tested out my helmet very well, once.
Poor in sand... front washes out AND rear offers little traction. I'd bog down and my buddy would power on by me. Sheesh.
Ok in mud, shed well enough, as knobs are reasonably widely spaced.
Rolling resistance somewhat high, pretty noisy on pavement compared to say the Dirt Control/Master. Durable however, no problems with wear or sidewalls.
I'm sure there are worse, I just haven't paid for them yet. Overall, 2 flaming mexican ... turd burritos, based on mud performance only.
Similar Products Used: Specialized Dirt Control/Master
Bike Setup: K2 Proflex 4000 w/ Noleen Crosslink ELT, LX cranks/front, XT rear and levers, LX brakes, Grip Shifters, Race Face stem, etc... first MTB, so not real knowledgeable when I bought 2 years ago. Few things I'd do differently for sure.
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Submitted by
Gold Barbz
a Weekend Warrior
from Shoreline, WA
Date Reviewed: May 14, 2000
Strengths: Great on loose dirt trails and any kind of mud, even the wet, deepest mud puddles!
Weaknesses: The slowest tire on pavement, and I mean SLOW! Rolling resistence and the 4WD "buzz" sound is way too much. Feels heavy.
Bottom Line:
Not so good for me since I ride on dry pavement most of my time. I always feel like a slug and roadies always pass by like lightning. I feel very ashamed that I could maintain at faster than 16 mph because of these high rolling resistent tires. And on uphill climb...forget about it, I was moving at 4 mph.
Submitted by
Papewayo
a Weekend Warrior
from Brooklyn, NY
Date Reviewed: October 6, 1999
Strengths: Loose stuff, gravel. Dirt Trails
Weaknesses: Water. Wet asphalt, wet metal, wet rocks.. Anything hard and wet.
Bottom Line:
The treads on this tire are like bricks. They are so hard that they prove difficult even to squeeze with your fingers. Almost lost control of the bike on a three mile concrete/asphalt ride which was necessary to ride home in the rain. The tread on this tire lends itself to surfaces where it can dig those stout knobbies into but forget it if the terrain is hard and wet. Absolutely no traction whatsoever. One flaming chili for this puppy.
Submitted by
Jay
a Cross-Country Rider
from State College, PA
Date Reviewed: August 16, 1999
Strengths: Back tire durable with a good tread that works well in all conditions.
Weaknesses: Front tire is garbage. No hold in the turns.
Bottom Line:
I liked the back all right. The front tire inspires absolutely no confidence through the turns. Slides out continuously.I give it the 1 chili because the front is so bad.
Submitted by
Julius negashi
a Weekend Warrior
from Siongapore
Date Reviewed: July 30, 1999
Strengths: good value for money....slick...and suitable for all terrains....
Weaknesses: not as good as the fire dx or dh...tires slips when wet....
Bottom Line:
it's one of the long lasting off road tires out there.... thus it's not onli value for money.... you need change tires now and then for diff terrains 5 chills for this rubber boy
Submitted by
Alacritas
a cross-country rider
from Alabama
Date Reviewed: March 3, 1999
Bottom Line:
This is a very condition-specific tire. It's quite good in mud/soft conditions. The edge knobs are stout, yet thin enough to poke through some of the leaves on the ground. It's reasonably predictable on the edge knobs, though not as predictable as IRC Mythos. In soft conditions, the stout edge knobs give more all-out grip than some of the more more moto-type tires (more than Mythos and Jones). The tires are also fast rolling due to the shape of the central knobs. It also sheds mud and clay quite easily. The problem with these tires is that they are very disconcerting on anything hard or especially dry. They don't seem to have any transitional grip whatsoever. So if you try to use these tires as an all-around cross-country tire, then you'll probably eat dirt at some time. I'm healing from a serious crash right now because these very tires washed out faster than you can say ouch on a loose/dry spot on an unfamiliar trail. As much as I would like to swear off these tires, I cannot deny that they work better on my hometown forest trail better than anything else. My local trail doesn't have many opportunites to use transition knobs--just spin and lay the bike over hard; the trail is soft enough to make up for the lack of transition knobs. Like I said, just be aware of what this tire does. I'm giving it three turds because it's so fast in my local forest, but Panaracer doesn't tell you upfront about what this does on different types of surfaces.
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Submitted by
Steven Seeley
a weekend warrior
from College Station, TX
Date Reviewed: February 15, 1999
Bottom Line:
I think this tire handles great. I'm new to this sport, so I'm not pushing any edges. However, I'm not so great on balance, so tire slips would be more probable with me. I ride with the Duster II (1.95) on the front, and it corners unbelievably. It's fast too. I recommend this tire to anyone. . . especially since I got the tire for $5.99 on closeout. If you can still manage to get one, then do so.
